Ryanair cuts in the Canary Islands: Tenerife authorities do not see a disaster for tourism

The Vice President of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Lope Afonso, who is responsible for tourism, believes that Ryanair's reduction of 400,000 seats in the Canary Islands is not critical for tourism. Although, of course, it will affect the locals, as flights from Tenerife-North Airport connecting the island with mainland Spain will be canceled.

At a press conference, he said that it is too early to assess the real scale of Ryanair's cuts. However, in his opinion, this will not greatly affect the winter tourist season, as almost 130,000 seats have already been booked to the island for the period from October to March.

"The statement about the possible loss of 400,000 seats in the Canary Islands needs to be verified. We need to find out if only Tenerife-North Airport was affected, or if there are others," he added.

Afonso also criticized Aena for unilaterally raising tariffs, which provoked Ryanair's reaction. He recalled that the Cabildo had protested against this decision even before the summer break.

He noted that although Ryanair has "its own peculiarities" in doing business and communicating with the authorities, any decision of the airline affects the market. And the residents of the Canary Islands may suffer the most from this, because the transport connection here is already not ideal due to the remoteness.

But Afonso assured that Turismo de Tenerife will work to ensure that other airlines that already fly these routes can fill the gap left by Ryanair.